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Sunday, December 24, 2017

December 24th...This Day in History

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Soviet tanks roll into Afghanistan 1979

On December 24, 1979, the Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978.

As midnight approached, the Soviets organized a massive military airlift into Kabul, involving an estimated 280 transport aircraft and three divisions of almost 8,500 men each. Within a few days, the Soviets had secured Kabul, deploying a special assault unit against Tajberg Palace. Elements of the Afghan army loyal to Hafizullah Amin put up a fierce, but brief resistance.

On December 27, Babrak Karmal, exiled leader of the Parcham faction of the Marxist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA), was installed as Afghanistan’s new head of government. And Soviet ground forces entered Afghanistan from the north.

The Soviets, however, were met with fierce resistance when they ventured out of their strongholds into the countryside. Resistance fighters, called mujahidin, saw the Christian or atheist Soviets controlling Afghanistan as a defilement of Islam as well as of their traditional culture. Proclaiming a “jihad”(holy war), they gained the support of the Islamic world.

The mujahidin employed guerrilla tactics against the Soviets. They would attack or raid quickly, then disappear into the mountains, causing great destruction without pitched battles. The fighters used whatever weapons they could grab from the Soviets or were given by the United States.

The tide of the war turned with the 1987 introduction of U.S. shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles. The Stingers allowed the mujahidin to shoot down Soviet planes and helicopters on a regular basis.

New Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev decided it was time to get out. Demoralized and with no victory in sight, Soviet forces started withdrawing in 1988. The last Soviet soldier crossed back across the border on February 15, 1989.

It was the first Soviet military expedition beyond the Eastern bloc since World War II and marked the end of a period of improving relations (known as détente) in the Cold War. Subsequently, the SALT II arms treaty was shelved and the U.S. began to re-arm.

Fifteen thousand Soviet soldiers were killed.

The long-term impact of the invasion and subsequent war was profound. First, the Soviets never recovered from the public relations and financial losses, which significantly contributed to the fall of the Soviet empire in 1991. Secondly, the war created a breeding ground for terrorism and the rise of Osama bin Laden.

(More Events on This Day in History)

American Revolution

1745
Benjamin Rush is born

Automotive

1801
Richard Trevithick introduces his “Puffing Devil”

Civil War

1864
Bombardment of Fort Fisher begins

Cold War

1952
McCarran-Walter Act goes into effect

Crime

1994
Islamic terrorists hijack a French plane

Disaster

1953
Volcanic eruption sweeps away train

General Interest

1814
War of 1812 ends

1851
Fire ravages Library of Congress

1865
KKK founded

Hollywood

1997
Woody Allen marries Soon-Yi Previn

Literary

1973
Stephenie Meyer, best-selling author of vampire novels, is born

Music

1988
“Every Rose Has Its Thorn” puts Poison atop the charts

Old West

1809
Kit Carson born in Kentucky

Presidential

1851
Fire destroys Jefferson library

1923
Coolidge lights first national Christmas tree

Sports

1969
Curt Flood challenges MLB reserve clause

Vietnam War

1964
Viet Cong bomb Brinks Hotel

1972
Bob Hope gives his last show in Vietnam

World War I

1918
American soldier John Douglas writes home from post-armistice France

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